Greg Bialecki, state secretary of housing and economic development, came to Barnstable April 2 to encourage construction of market-rate, multi-family housing. Town and county officials met him at StoneRidge Crossing on Center Street in Hyannis, where all 16 residential condos and five retail stores have been snapped up.

For some of those standing outside the building, it was Groundhog Day, a repeat of a visit several years with a different state leader to one of the few examples of housing the Cape is said to need desperately.

After walking over to town hall in the company of Town Manager Tom Lynch and Growth Management Director Jo Anne Miller Buntich, Bialecki convened a roundtable discussion with officials from other towns, developers, and other interested parties on the issue.

“Most towns don’t allow multi-family housing anywhere in the community,” he said. “People who want to stay in Massachusetts want multi-family housing.” Bialecki said he was referring to younger workers making $50,000 to $70,000 a year.

Bialecki said regulatory and affordability issues need to be tackled, and noted that the state has been pursuing both tracks. He cited a study that says Massachusetts needs to create 10,000 apartments a year to keep up with the demand, and said the state has gone from 2,000 units in 2011 to 7,500 in 2013 and may well meet the goal next year.

“We’re not going to get to that goal by public subsidy of new construction,” Bialecki cautioned. “We’ve invested in infrastructure to support” new housing.

“My problem is everyone else’s problem,” Stuart Bornstein said of his fellow developers in the room. When you add up the cost of land, permitting, and construction by square foot, you need a monthly rent of around $1,400 to make it work – but many people don’t have the resources to pay that. Operating costs are a concern as well.

That said, the demand is there. “We get 100 calls a week for apartments we don’t have,” Bornstein said.

Bialecki said the state is encouraging communities to identify areas for needed developments. Several people spoke of the success of the downtown Growth Incentive Zone in Hyannis, which allows significant development to go forward without Cape Cod Commission review up to a generous threshold. Commission Executive Director Paul Niedzwiecki, who was Barnstable’s assistant town manager when the GIZ was negotiated, said it helped the area ride out the recession and keep growing.